Wine Enthusiast

"This wine is too good for toast-drinking, my dear. You don't want to mix emotions up with a wine like that. You lose the taste."

~Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Whole Foods Whole Paycheck

So I've been frequenting Whole Foods a lot more lately. I've also been frequenting Sam's Club. I think some of it might be liking these places, but a larger portion, me thinks, might be the memory and connectedness of going to these places back home with my Sis Te Rs.

I like that Whole Foods has a lot of community activities that they host. They have regular wine tasting events, cooking classses, massage days, poetry nights, music nights, how to shop at Whole Foods on a budget (yes, let me show you our gum section). And I love that both of these places offer free samples so I get to taste all sorts of new product. Like the other day I had yogurt made with Water Buffalo Milk. It's higher in calcium and supposedly better for you. It wasn't bad.

In Sam's Club I stood behind a lady who threw a fit because they had just ran out of the free sample of South Beach Diet Chicken Fajitas. She was literally crying, "It's just not fair! It's just not fair!" I had no idea that there was someone out there who could be more excited about trying free samples than my Sisters could be.

Although I do love both of these places I still haven't found anything to replace my favorite place to grocery shop in Ann Arbor.

The Battle of the Heart vs. the Head

I was just talking to a good friend of mine on the phone about my frustrations with my heart and my head always fighting with each other. They just never seem to be on the same page. Mainly I was referring to this in regards to my inability to move on from my last relationship.

My heart seems to be hanging on with grips of steel while my mind is like, "What the heck are you doing?!" Then my heart softens and thinks happy thoughts and then my mind lashes out, "That was in the past, move on to the present!"

But even at the end of my phone conversation with my friend, he ends it with: "Keep hope alive" (not really meaning keep hope alive for you know who) and once again my heart is right back in it again, going for the long haul. Holding steadfest onto the mast of my yacht in the midst of a hurricane in the Bermuda Triangle...let's just hope I don't end up like Chuck Muer.

I Wanna Get Up in Your Grill

When I was driving down to Florida from Michigan I was hit on for the first time while driving. I was in Georgia almost to my destination of meeting my boyfriend in Atlanta when a hillbilly in a pickup truck beside me was signaling to me to roll down my window. I was busy listening to Alan Jackson (very Georgia appropriate, I know) and didn't roll down my window because I wouldn't be able to hear the music. So I just kept glancing over trying to figure out what his deal was. Then he held up a piece of paper with writing on it. I read it and it said, "You are sexy!!" I was like, "I can't believe this! Why would anyone ever hit on someone when they are driving? How sad!" I called my boyfriend and told him, then the hillbilly backed off, probably thinking I might be calling the cops or something. '

Since I moved down to Fort Lauderdale, I get hit on while driving on average 3 times a day. It is so routine now that I am used to it. But I still think it to be the strangest thing in the world. Who are these people that think that when I am off driving I am out looking to get a date?!

Well, I've discussed this with my boss, whom is a woman my age, and we have concluded that I am "no longer in Kansas". Let's just say there is a very different crowd down here in Florida.

The Art of First Dates

I was just speaking to my youngest Sister about dating casually. She is going on several "first dates" with people she has met online or in person. I told her about how I think it's important for all women who are interested in having serious relationships, to at some point in her life be "wined and dined" for a while, go on lots of dates, and meet lots of different people.

When you are dating casually and just for fun, there are so many things one learns about men and relationships, and well, just what your own personal needs are in a relationship.

When reminiscing with my youngest Sister about the many "first dates" that I have had over the years, I remembered that it was important for me to pass on a little secret to her. Once you've gone on so many dates, one really does learn how to master little techniques. My favorite one is: the reversal break off. This one took me years to master, I must confess. But I somehow found a way to completely reverse things so that the other person whom is interested in you ends up breaking up with you, so that you don't have to do the breaking up. I guess it's kind of like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". But this technique if mastered, can really work wonders for a person, trust me! And to master the technique on a first date, is like shooting a three pointer and getting all net!